Armor is protective device designed to stop penetrator or to reduce the damage caused by penetrator. For the purposes of this disclosure, penetrator is defined as any object that penetrate, which includes, but is not limited to, nails, knives, ice-picks, mines, bullets, gun-fired projectiles, and shrapnel fragments from explosion.
The most critical aspect of the armor is the capability of stopping or reducing the speed of the penetrator to minimize damage to the host. Generally, the armor must be tough, penetration resistance, light weight, and flexible. Such demanding properties can be achieved cost effectively only with a limited number of materials. Soft vests, made from multiple layers of woven or laminated fibers, Kevlar for example, can protect wearer from small projectiles. Soft vests are unable to protect wearers from stab and slash from a knife, nail, ice-pick, or the like. Adding ceramic or metal plates to the soft vests, it can provide additional protection to the wearers from knives, nails, ice-picks, or the like, and shots fired from rifles; however, the added weight and rigidity make it difficult for the wearer to move about. Furthermore, ceramic has the tendency to break into multiple pieces and cannot take multiple hits.
Accordingly, a need exists for novel materials to be used in armors and armor systems, which can provide remedy to the deficiencies of incumbent materials and structures.